Only by Moonlight
by RedFox09
Summary: The odds are stacked pretty far against a Spanish Team Aqua Cacturne and a French Team Magma Roserade getting together. Will they have to choose between their loyalties to their trainers and each other?    Contains yaoi lemons in chapters 4 and 6.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Okay, so this little fanfic is actually a slightly rewritten version of an RP that Hot-Gothics (on deviantART and FurAffinity) and I did a while ago. I finally got around to adapting it as a presentable fanfic, and noticed how insanely long it was… 6 chapters, and the shortest chapter is about 2,000 words. Yeesh Oo; It may be a tad hard to follow at times because of the Spanish and French, but trust me, you're not missing anything too important with that.

It will contain lemons in later chapters.

Bear in mind that Hot-Gothics did the writing for Xanthe and the rest of Team Magma, even if I did tweak it a little.

Ferroco, Kinsho © RedFox09

Xanthe, Alex, Allucard, Searcium © Hot-Gothics

Cacturne, Roserade, Trapinch, Combusken, Maxie, Archie, Steven, Officer Jenny © Nintendo

Bright moonlight bathed the silent nighttime Hoenn region, allowing almost adequate vision. It sparkled off the sea of cool sand pooled in the canyon of Route 111 as if it really were water, with waves driven by the daytime sandstorms…

Of course, this was all irrelevant to and unnecessary for Ferroco.

If anything the moonlight only made his task that much harder; a cover of darkness would help keep him from being noticed by any possible defenses his adversaries might have set up on My. Chimney, if this was in fact where they'd set up base. It seemed likely enough; an inactive volcano would be more than fitting enough for an organization by the name of Team Magma.

The Cacturne inched nearer to a corner of the rugged stone, taking great care to keep absolutely silent in case anyone happened to be around it. A mild breeze would've been nice to cover any sound he might've made... Why did they have to pick this night of all nights to send him on an undercover mission?

Just around the corner, albeit on a short ledge, a Roserade sighed softly, running his red-and-blue-flowered hand through the scrubby, dry grass on the ground. His ruby eyes watched as the green blades brushed under, then popped back up on the other side. Nothing was happening, and although he was keeping an ear and an eye alert, nothing seemed like it _would_be happening. Guard duty was so boring...

Suddenly a crack sounded to the far left of him and he leapt down to the ground immediately, raising both arms in an offensive stance. It appeared to have been the snapping of a twig, like someone had stepped on it. He took a few light steps toward where the sound had come from, noticing it was in the direction of the stream and hoping it wasn't someone from that Arceus-forsaken Team Aqua.

Ferroco had to stop himself from muttering a curse under his breath. If anyone was there, they'd surely have heard that twig snap. He glanced around quickly but found no shadows to hide in.

Wait.

Footsteps.

Small, but still footsteps…

Well, so much for secrecy. With a little luck he'd hopefully be able to play this off. He stepped back, away from the corner, and took a moment to get into character. He was nothing more than a normal, non-Team Aqua Cacturne who wandered out of the nearby desert by accident.

That was all.

Nothing more.

With that, he stepped away from the rock wall, made sure his hat was on straight and tight enough so that it would stay in place with his bandana and scarf stashed safely inside, and turned the corner with a casual gait. His head tilted back a bit, allowing his uninjured eye to gaze up toward the peak of the mountain as if he'd never seen a volcano before in his life, but still keeping his expression indifferent.

The smaller plant just tiptoed closer, staring wide-eyed so as to not miss anything in front of him. A semi-white petal fell in his face and he had to squint for a second before he stopped and fixed it. He closed his eyes for a second, listening. A very slight breeze blew his cape around his thighs, making him shiver and wish to have his arm warmers and top back on. But he had to look normal. It would be incredibly obvious if he wore his Team Magma outfit; a dead give-away at the least.

He detected footsteps behind him, and they seemed to be closing in. They didn't seem to be anything but casual, as if someone was going for a late night stroll on the side of the volcano. He opened his eyes and spun on his heel, cape whirling around him, and took a few steps back as a Cacturne stepped out from behind a tree.

A hand flew to his chest as a gasp overtook him. He'd never actually seen a Cacturne before. They weren't called the Scarecrow Pokémon for nothing!

He was dark, ominous, and more than a foot taller than the young Roserade. Thick thorns jutted out from his limbs and frontal torso, and his mouth seemed to be comprised of nothing by holes in his face. He had a patch over one eye that tied in the back, and his hat tilted, covering his other eye halfway. He seemed carefree enough; looking up into the sky towards the top of the volcano, arms crossed in front of his chest, and still seeming as though he hadn't noticed the other Grass-type. The Cacturne took a few steps past him and the Roserade tilted his head to the side, deciding to finally speak up.

"What are you doing?" He asked in an obvious French accent, putting forth a cheerful expression and folding his hands behind back.

"Es nada," Ferroco made it sound and appear as if he paid little mind to the other Grass-type, still walking right past him, and falling into his habit of mindlessly mixing Pokémon language with Spanish. "The desert was boring me; no prey worth hunting tonight… The moon's bright enough; I thought I'd leave for a little while and look around, I guess… ¿Y tu?" He turned back from the torso up, stopping in place to face the Roserade.

"I know there are Roselia in nearby routes, but you don't normally see too many Roserade aquí, or any other Sinnoh Pokémon para el caso…"

Round, crimson eyes blinked as his voice ran through the Roserade. That thick Spanish accent was so... alluring. When he seemed to have trailed off the smaller took a step or two forward."Something wrong?" He asked innocently enough, straightening himself to look up at the other.

"No." Ferroco gave the smaller plant a grin that was known to scare off even grown human men who saw it and send any nearby Murkrow with so much as half a brain in its head squawking all the way back to Johto, making sure not to blink the entire time he made eye contact.

"Why do you ask~?"

That'd get him to leave.

The Roserade chewed his lip for a second before speaking up again. "You had stopped in the middle of your sentence. I thought you might've seen something behind me." He looked over his shoulder, craning his neck to give emphasis; a decent cover for looking around to make sure nothing was going on around them. He looked back to the looming male and smiled sweetly. "I didn't see anything."

The Cacturne's mask faltered just slightly. He hadn't left his sentence unfinished. Maybe this Roserade just hadn't ever heard Spanish before. Few in the Sinnoh region had. "I didn't see anything either, pero I probably wouldn't anymore," he referred to the patch covering his injured eye. "Yo no se," he shrugged.

"Oh, cher! What happened?" he feigned interest, gazing at the patch inquisitively, and mixing his languages much in the same manner as Ferroco.

"Ay, that. I got into a muy… violent battle, if that's what you want to call it." That one actually wasn't a lie.

"Desole, mon cher. I certainly hope it heals soon enough." His left hand, which bore no flowers and therefore no poison, came out from behind his back and extended toward the other plant. "I just realized that I haven't introduced myself. Je m'appelle-" he caught himself. "I'm Xanthe. You?"

"Ferroco," the Cacturne blinked, having to lean in a bit to take the other's hand in his own and shake it. "My name is Ferroco."

He couldn't help but notice this Roserade was entirely out-of-place. Not only was he a normally Sinnoh-exclusive subspecies, but he was also able to speak fluent French, a little of which Ferroco had been taught before, but had never used. Nothing to be suspicious of, but it did genuinely peak the taller Grass-type's interest…

Xanthe glanced at his hand before lowering it when the other male stopped shaking it. He needed to make sure this Pokémon got away from the volcano soon; otherwise when it was time to change shifts he'd know something was up. The Roserade looked up at the sky to try and figure out what time it was. There was little time he had left before he had to meet up at the lookout spot.

"Something wrong?" Ferroco inquired. Hopefully Xanthe would have some reason to leave, making the Cacturne's job a lot easier.

"Non, cher." He looked back at the Cacturne's face and tilted his head to the side. "J'ai tres solitaire. Would you mind accompanying me tonight? Marchons ensemble." While Ferroco could only make out about half of the French, the basic message was clear.

"Weeeell…" he thought it over briefly. He'd pretty much already done his job, and he wouldn't be able to finish it with the Roserade around anyway. Besides, his French was cute, and when would he ever get the chance to see a Sinnoh Pokémon ever again?

"Bien. I don't see why not."

Xanthe clapped his hands together in front of his chin, grinning. "C'est merveilleux!" He mostly kept his eyes on the ground as they walked, glancing up at the other's face every now and then. He wasn't going to lie to himself and think of the other as not intimidating; Ferroco was definitely daunting... yet alluring all the same. That heavy Spanish accent... it gave him shivers almost at every sentence.

Ferroco kept a somewhat slow pace so Xanthe's smaller strides would match easier. "¿De donde eres? Are you from around here, or do you have roots elsewhere? No pun intended," he smirked down at the Roserade, pun fully intended.

Come on. It was unavoidable.

A giggle left Xanthe at the joke. "It's hard to explain, actually. I was raised somewhere near or in the Eterna Forest. Je ne me souviens pas beucoup," He shrugged, shaking his head slowly.

"Mais, I remember that I didn't like it there at all. I managed to evolve to what I am now by myself and wandered throughout my life until I was somewhere near Johto. A man came up to me and convinced me to stay with him and we ended up in Hoenn. That was about a year ago. How about you?"

"Tienes quite the tale there… I'm jealous," Ferroco gave a small chuckle.

"Para mi, life has been simple. Mis parents belonged to a trainer en madre Spain, un muy long time ago. I don't know exactly what happened, but for some reason he left them en Route 111. I was born there and raised speaking two languages. I was a scrawny little Cacnea until I evolved not all that long ago… Y that's about it." He decided to leave out the part where he was captured by a Team Aqua member, but the rest was actually true.

"Tu es lucky. I didn't know ma mere et mon pere..." How surprising it was to be honest about these things. Xanthe had never really talked about himself like this before. He looked back up at Ferroco when the other turned to him and smiled awkwardly. "That slow turn of yours is really... how do I put this...? C'est effrayant. I see why you're called the Scarecrow Pokémon."

"Kekeke," Ferroco gave a chuckle reminiscent of a Haunter. "Bien. I like my space, and looking and moving this way ensures me that. Ademas…" he smirked back down at Xanthe again, head angled so his good eye was entirely in view, and lowered his tone just only enough to notice.

"…Slow movement makes for good hunting."

A shiver ran through Xanthe at the tone and he spun around so that he stood in directly front of Ferroco, displaying a teasing smile. Barely any distance was between them so he had to angle his head pretty far. "So, are you hunting me?" He asked, winking.

That shudder he got almost made Ferroco glad he was neglecting his job. The wink was a nice little bonus, too."Actualmente, no." He leaned in a little closer.

"I imagine I would have gotten you by now if I was."

_'Oh you've got me, alright...'_ The Roserade smirked mentally. He was about to step closer when his trainer yelled out for him from afar. He cursed under his breath, having forgotten the time limit he had. "I'll be right back."

"I won't move a vein," Ferroco assured him, leaning back up against the mass of volcanic rock, arms folded.

Xanthe made quick work of getting back to his post, snuggling up to his trainer as if to say he was sorry that he left. The Combusken standing next to them just rolled his eyes. After a minute or two of scolding, the Roserade was allowed to wander off again. He returned as quickly as possible, walking slowly once he could see the other and sneaking up on him. The Spanish Cacturne's hat had slipped down to cover his eye and he was as still and silent as the boulder he was leaning on.

"You can't sneak up on me that easy," Ferroco spoke up once Xanthe was about a yard away and tipped his hat back a bit. His glance shifted over to the other, though he was otherwise motionless. He didn't even turn his head to face toward him. "Tu olor es muy reconocible. Exotica."

The smaller giggled softly, moving to stand in front of the Cacturne. "Desole, mon cher. I don't know much Spanish..."

"Unfortunate." He then turned his head to face Xanthe, but was, again, otherwise entirely still. "I mix my languages all the time without a second thought."

"Non, non! C'est bien, mon cher." He waved his hands in front of him to show it was fine. "I do the same thing. We'll just have to translate for the other if we do it and they completely don't understand...?" He hoped that Ferroco would do so with whatever he had said a few moments before.

"Es un trato," the Dark-type nodded. "It's a deal."

"Il s'agit d'un accord," Xanthe smiled sweetly. "It's a deal." After Ferroco pushed himself from the wall he decided to ask directly. "What was it that you said before?"

"I said your scent is very recognizable," the taller Pokémon stepped closer. "Exotic, but recognizable. I rather like it."

"Oh..." His cheeks began to match his blinking, ruby eyes. A small giggle left him and he looked back at the Cacturne, the blush more prominent as he realized that the other was now only a few inches from him.

"I'm sure it's much sweeter in mating season, though," Ferroco murmured, passing by the smaller plant, going in the same direction they'd been headed before. An indistinguishable noise left Xanthe at that, the comment thoroughly embarrassing him. He decided to change the subject.

"Do you have a trainer?" he asked, catching up to the other's strides.

"No," Ferroco lied easily. "Most humans are completely terrified of me as I am now, and no trainer would've wanted to catch such a skinny little Cacnea when there was such an abundance of bulkier ones available en el desierto… Er, in the desert," he corrected himself. "¿Y tu? Do you have a trainer?"

"Oui, the voice calling for me from a few minutes ago was my trainer. Remember me mentioning the man in Hoenn? That's him." He studied Ferroco for a second, looking him up and down slowly. "I can see why humans would be scared of you but you're actually wonderful company." He smiled, grabbing the other's arm so that he could walk evenly with him.

"Hmhm. I never thought anyone would say that." Ferroco pulled him a little closer.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Xanthe snuggled into the larger Grass-type's side and hugged onto his arm with both of his own, being cautious of the spikes protruding from it. "But to me you are."

Ferroco probably would've said something, were it not for Xanthe's closeness. He wasn't expecting it at all, and he'd certainly never been hugged like that… But it wasn't unpleasant.

But then something struck him.

Don't regular trainers travel a lot?

"So… From the sound of it, I'm guessing you and your trainer travel mucho, hmm? You'll be gone soon?" His tone was genuinely disheartened. The Roserade had to think of something quick. He certainly couldn't tell Ferroco that he lived in the volcano...

"We do travel, but not too often. We usually stay in one place for a while. I think we'll be here for a month or two longer before we leave."

"Oh. Odd." He'd never heard of any trainer moving across the region so slowly, but hey, it worked out for him.

"Et tu? Do you travel?" Xanthe looked up into Ferroco's eye, surprised at himself for really wanting the other to be here longer.

"No. I don't think I could live happily outside the desert…" This was also a lie. That place was boring as Hell… Except that one time something happened with two Flygon and a weird, uniformed trainer. It had been apparent that there was a violent battle and one dragon was captured, but the details were fuzzy. Oddly enough, it happened not long after he got the wound on his eye… Either way, the desert sucked.

Simple as that.

"Menteur," he giggled. "You liar. If you were perfectly happy in the desert you wouldn't have wandered over here, now would you?"Xanthe nuzzled the other's arm, thankful that his face wasn't near a thorn, and smiled contently. "But I'm glad that you'll be staying near. I'd like to meet with you again..."

"Yo también…" He glanced away. "So would I…"

At some point they had stopped walking altogether. A cool breeze blew by them, making the slighter one's cape brush over his own thighs. The Roserade looked up at his face, bringing his red-and-blue-flowered hand up to cup his jaw and make the taller look at him. A soft smile overtook his features.

"Shall we make it a habit, meeting on the side of the volcano?"

"Whenever I can, I'll be here." Ferroco returned the gesture, placing one "hand" on Xanthe's cheek. "Count on it."

The smaller closed his eyes, leaning into the touch and relaxing. How can he be so comfortable with this Pokémon he'd just met?

Xanthe seemed to be a little too comfortable, Ferroco thought. Best to fix that. He stayed in place for just a tad longer to draw out the timing.

"… So do we kiss now or what?"

A blush spread over Xanthe's cheeks and his eyes opened to stare at the Cacturne. The idea wasn't bad at all, in fact he was just thinking of that with how they were. But to ask it like that!

His lids narrowed and he got on the tips of his feet, pressing his lips to Ferroco's cheek for a second or two before backing away. The blush he sported had become darker and his eyes lingered at the thorns on the other's neck. He was about to say something along the lines of, 'you should know better than to joke about kissing with the French,' but thought against it.

Ferroco felt his cheeks heat up a bit. That was… unexpected.

"Hm." He stood up straight again. "I think I forgot you're French for a second there…" He fiddled with his hat a bit, feeling profoundly awkward. He wasn't inexperienced with these types of things, but he was much more used to females, in which case it was customary not to start getting physical within a single hour of knowing one another. For other males, however, this was seldom the case.

Xanthe laughed awkwardly, burying his face in the Cacturne's shoulder. It was against his nature to admit that he was embarrassed.

Ferroco put his unoccupied arm around Xanthe's back, pulling him in a tad closer. "Es bien. I don't mind."

The Roserade's arm let go of the taller's, letting him be pulled into a frontal hug. The hand that was on Ferroco's cheek moved to the back of the other's neck.

"Handsy tonight, tu eres~?" Ferroco returned it, crouching down a bit further. "Most would advise against cuddling a succulent plant, you know…" He chose his words carefully on that line.

"You too. Your hands..." Xanthe muttered, a shiver running through him as thick hands stroked his back, moving just a little bit lower each time, as if wanting the action to be noticed.

"You started it," Ferroco pointed out, but still jokingly. He felt the Roserade shaking slightly in his embrace, his hand tracing his spine through his cape. "I can stop if you want."

"...Continuez..." He wrapped his other arm around the taller Pokémon's neck, relaxing more into his hold. "Tu es a l'aise..."

"¿Traducción, por favor?" Ferroco's head tilted up just slightly, allowing a tad more ease of access to his neck. "I didn't quite catch that last word…"

"Xanthe? Where are you?" A human's voice echoed through rocks and trees, startling the Roserade. He backed up an inch or two, looking up at Ferroco.

"I-I have to go..."

"… I see."

The Cacturne let go of him and stood up straight again. "Es bien. I'll see you again tomorrow night."

He gave the Cacturne a short kiss on either cheek. "Tomorrow night then... Au revoir." With that, he turned around and sprinted back to the base.

Xanthe walked behind his trainer down the many hallways to their room. Once inside, an article of red clothing hit his face dead on.

Red eyes narrowed at the laughing Trapinch on the other side of the room. He picked the clothes off of the floor, receiving a wolf whistle from the Combusken behind him.

"Put those on already! You look way too normal without them. Too leafy." The Trapinch sounded, still chuckling.

"Shut up, Searcium..." Xanthe grumbled, clipping the red cloth with the Team Magma symbol on the front to his collar. He wrapped the two belts around him, clicking the buckles, before pulling his arm warmers and leg warmers on.

"Quiet down. He just got back," the human ordered, staring at the Trapinch and motioning for Xanthe to join him on the bed. He did so, smiling as the man patted his head.

"Good work tonight, Xanthe."


	2. Chapter 2

Not long after Xanthe left his side, Ferroco's trainer had come to take him back to the Team Aqua base in Lilycove. The two were cozy in their quarters-that is, a very small room with little more than two hammocks-the next evening. Ferroco had the bottom bunk, lying on his back with his own Team Aqua bandana covering his eyes.

"So you didn't find anything then?" the human spoke up after a while. Ferroco shook his head when his trainer asked this.

"But did you search the whole volcano?"

Again, this was a 'no.'

"Then you're going back tonight. Be a little more thorough this time, got it?"

The Cacturne nodded, removing the white-and-dark grey-striped scarf from around his neck. That was Kinsho for you: all business and no nonsense. Of course, that wasn't to say he was a bad trainer or anything; he was only next in line to become Team Aqua's admin, but still… Would it kill him to lighten up a little or show an emotion every now and then…?

XXXXX

The moon seemed just as full the next night, but this time there was a fair breeze blowing.

Of course it came now that Ferroco didn't need it.

The Cacturne was hastily circling the mountain, climbing a bit higher each time he completed a lap. He was about halfway up, and so far, none of the countless stones or rocky structure he'd checked held any secrets. Leave it to Team Magma to be so stubborn as to make their base of operations this annoying to find, if it was even there…

On the opposite side of the volcano, Xanthe exited the base quietly, stepping out onto a ledge. He was about to hop off of it when a wide, feathered arm wrapped around his middle, pulling him back into whoever-it-was's chest.

"And where do you think you're going, sweet cheeks?" The male voice behind him asked. Xanthe pushed on the arms lightly, laughing awkwardly.

"Allucard, permettez-moi s'il vous plait. Please let me go. I'm just wanting to go out for a walk; make sure no one comes around that isn't expected," he lied, smiling as the arm loosened on him.

"You better not be out for too long. Alex might start to worry. You know you're his favorite. If something happened to you he'd-"

"He'd start up a search and kill off anyone who gets in his way. I've heard it un grand nombre from him. Do not worry."

The Combusken just sighed, shaking his head back and forth. "You are way too much of a free spirit, Xanthe."

The Roserade just giggled before jumping down the ledge and running off. Now to search for Ferroco. Hopefully he kept his promise and was near already.

The latter had been having no success in his endeavor and was getting nowhere fast with his job. Ferroco decided to just postpone the task until after he'd met with Xanthe again. He quickly and silently made his way down the steep rocks, and wound up at the same corner he'd been at the night before. He rounded it to find Xanthe already waiting for him.

"Hola."

"Salut, mon cher." The Roserade giggled, sauntering over to Ferroco and planting short kisses on either cheek. "Come with me. There is a place I'd like to show you."

"Lead the way, then," Ferroco gestured for the Roserade to go first.

He walked off in one direction, away from the entry to the base, until they reached a clearing. Short, soft grass covered the area and the shorter plant spun around, smiling happily.

"This is my favorite spot for stargazing." He looked up at the sky. "And it's a wonderful night to do so, don't you agree?"

"Si, it is." Though the moon was bright, the stars dotting the skies were also in clear view.

Xanthe plopped down onto the ground, letting his legs fly up in the air as he dropped backwards to lie down. He put his hands under his head and crossed his legs as if he were sitting in a chair. He looked over to Ferroco, waiting for the Dark-type to look down at him before motioning with his chin to lie next to him.

The taller one did just that, taking care to make sure his hat didn't fall off. It probably wouldn't have looked too good if a Team Aqua uniform randomly fell out of his hat.

The Roserade gazed at the stars, completely relaxed next to his new companion. A fair amount of time passed in silence before he looked over to Ferroco to make sure he was actually there.

Ferroco was much the same, relaxed lying next to Xanthe. He noticed the other had turned his attention to him. He purposefully turned his head as slow as possible to face him, his single eye staring ahead blankly and never blinking.

It was so fun to try and freak people out like that.

"Where did you get your hat from? I know generally all Cacturne have one, but where does it come from?" Xanthe wondered aloud.

"Yo no se," Ferroco shrugged. "It's just kind of… there after Cacnea evolve." Come to think of it, it was a little weird…

Xanthe blushed at his own weird question, turning back toward the sky. "Desole... It's the same for every Pokémon after they evolve, so I guess that's kind of a stupid question..." He glanced at Ferroco, thinking of how close they were the night before and wanting to be like that again. The other must've thought he was a dunce after that, though.

"Not necessarily. The only way to learn these things is to ask," he pointed out. "Life is full of such mysteries…" He glanced at the other with a smirk.

"I wonder if death is the same way."

"Mourir..." Xathe's lids drooped as if he were in deep thought. "I'd imagine it's very lonely..." His tone then changed to a joking manner. "I'd never want to try it," he giggled.

"Me neither," Ferroco's smirk lessened. "Suerte para nosotros plants live long, hm?"

He nodded, looking back at the stars for a second before nudging closer to the Cacturne until their upper arms were touching. "Speaking of that, quel age a tu? How old are you?"

"Veinticinco. Er, twenty-five," he corrected himself. "¿Y tu?"

"Vingt deux," he giggled. "Twenty-two. For some reason I was thinking you were older."

"I do sort of look a bit old, don't I? I've been told I look like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean," Ferroco snickered, fidgeting a little with his eye patch. Of course, he's probably fit the description a lot more if he were wearing his bandana.

Xanthe laughed with him, moving to sit up before leaning over the other, his hand hovering over the elder's shoulder.

"Do you mind if I look?" he ventured, gesturing toward the patch.

"No, pero I should warn you, it's muy hideous…" He put one hand to the patch in preparation to flip it up, but waited in case Xanthe changed his mind.

The smaller nodded, gasping as the patch was flipped up. The area around his eye was discolored and alarmingly swollen, a few scrapes and scratches littering the puffy, darkly-bruised surface. Whether or not there was an actual eye under that wound was anyone's guess.

"Sacrebleu...!" The word came out barely above a whisper as he stared at the wound. He looked into the better eye. "Comment est-ce arrive? You said it happened during a battle? Mais, how exactly?" His hand supported him on the other side of Ferroco's neck on the ground, making him lean completely over the larger Grass-type.

"It was a trainer," Ferroco started. "They sent out a kind of Pokémon I'd never seen or heard of before; probably not from Hoenn. It attacked using its claws…" he trailed off for a bit.

"Even as menacing as it was, there seemed to be something… not quite right with it. It acted as if it absolutely _had_ to win, even if it meant killing me. I don't think the trainer had it entirely under control; it used these strange, violent attacks… I'm lucky I got away with one good eye."

He lowered the patch, staring at it for a second as if he could feel the exact moment when the wound was made. "It looks as if it will heal with time..." Xanthe gently kissed the patch, pulling back to smile softly.

"I think so too," Ferroco nodded.

The Roserade pulled back and returned to his former position, feeling awkward.

"Something wrong?" The Cacturne blinked.

Xanthe blushed. "Non, I'm fine," he lied. When he had leaned over the other he had the undeniable urge to embrace him. He turned his head toward Ferroco and his blush deepened. They were so close to one another…

"Bien, if you say so…" Ferroco could tell it was a lie just by listening to the other's voice, but didn't press further.

A few minutes passed by in awkward silence.

The quiet was getting thick and obnoxious after a minute or two of it. If Ferroco had wanted this much quiet he would've stayed in the sand. Obviously Xanthe wasn't going to do anything about it, so why shouldn't he?

In the most awkward and hilarious way possible, of course.

"… Ssssoooooooo you wanna make out or what?"

"Qu-qu-qu-qu'est-ce?" The younger sputtered, face turning completely red. He looked over to the other grass type wide-eyed. Although... he didn't object to doing so, per say, that question was just so...

A second passed before he sat up half-way, supporting himself with one arm as he playfully hit Ferroco on the chest. "Tu es... tu es...!"

"Si, si, yo se, yo se!" The other pushed himself up to sit, raising an arm to block the rather weak barrage of slapping, and laughing all the while. "I was just joking!"

The Roserade sat up as Ferroco did, quitting his half-hearted onslaught. His arms went in front of his crossed legs, palms flat on the ground as he pouted cutely, bottom lip jutting out and face still red.

"Je souhaite que vous n'étiez pas plaisanter..." he muttered, hoping that the elder didn't know enough French to translate if he had even heard it.

"¿Que?" Ferroco only got a bit of that. "You wish what?"

"I-...!" An idea struck him then and he leaned into the larger Pokémon, bringing their faces close. "I wish you weren't joking, Ferroco..." he spoke in a sultry tone, purring out the other's name.

"Adios mio, I keep forgetting you're French," he snickered, putting one hand on the other's back. "Pero, if you insist…" He leaned in a tiny bit closer.

Xanthe blinked, shivering from the hand on his back. He moved his own to Ferroco's chest before pressing their lips together, pulling back after a moment to make sure he didn't take a joke too far.

Ferroco pulled Xanthe in for another kiss, albeit without much force. His hand traced his spine up and down through his leafy cape.

"Nn..." He wrapped his arms around the Spaniard's neck, sitting up on his knees to bring them a bit closer. Small sounds of contentment left him as their lips melded, the hand slowly moving up and down his spine sending shivers through him.

The Dark-type's eye slipped closed as they went on. Experimentally, he leaned back a little as if to ask the other's permission for them to do this lying down, his hand working over the other's back a little lower.

Xanthe gasped slightly at the movement and backed up for a second to crawl over Ferroco, straddling him before returning to his lips. The Cacturne's hand slipped under his cape during their shift, a soft, quiet moan leaving him as the hand moved slowly against his skin. The younger stuck his tongue out experimentally, licking Ferroco's upper lip. Ferroco smirked into the kiss and lightly suckled at the invading tongue, bringing it between his own lips as his hand moved to the other's neck, running over his spine there too.

"Nngh..." He moaned into the kiss, pressing their chests together as he relaxed more.

There was something, though... something he'd forgotten... what was it...?

Oh, right... Allucard's warning... He needed to be leaving soon.

But it could wait.

Ferroco eagerly pressed back, running a hand through the petals atop the Roserade's head that served as hair. A small moan escaped the back of his throat.

Xanthe ran his hands down Ferroco's chest and back up again to cup his jaw. Ferroco's hand was getting dangerously close to Xanthe's rear end. Once, just before it went all the way, it slowed to a stop and veered off to his left hip instead.

The Roserade's mouth replaced his hands, traveling down Ferroco's jaw. The Cacturne tilted his head back a little to provide easier access to his neck while his hands went to Xanthe's hips, rubbing over them in a circular motion.

The younger littered kisses down Ferroco's neck, giggling when his thorns retracted before nipping at the spot. Ferroco ignored this and ran his hands over the backs of Xanthe's legs a few times. The latter moved back to Ferroco's lips, moaning as his hands slid up his thighs.

"Xanthe?" A far off voice echoed, making the Roserade lift his head.

"Fichu..." He spat, looking down at the Spaniard with an apologetic expression.

"I'm assuming you have to leave?" The taller plant propped himself up on his elbows a bit.

The Roserade nodded sheepishly, wrapping his arms around the other's neck and kissing him chastely before hugging him. "Desole, mon cher." He stood up, blushing slightly as he smiled softly at Ferroco. "Au revoir."

"Adios," Ferroco nodded, pushing himself up to stand.

Xanthe returned to the base entrance, glaring slightly at Allucard as he passed him. The Combusken just looked back at him with a quizzical stare.

"What did I do...?" he wondered aloud.


	3. Chapter 3

Alex held Xanthe in his arms, panting hard as he ran through the corridors of the HQ. The Roserade was close to passing out from battling so many of Team Aqua's Pokémon. The little guy had done a wonderful job, defeating seven foes without any items. But damnit! How did those bastards find the entrance to their base?

He hurriedly got out a Hyper Potion, spraying Xanthe's wounds with it. They kept running as he finished off the entire bottle, restoring his HP to maximum. Alex smiled down at him, patting his head.

"C'mon! I just heard something from this way!" He turned left, spotting a Team Aqua member right off the bat. "Hey! You!" He called out, causing the other man to turn around quickly. "Get out of our base! Now!"

"No! You have something that belongs to us!" The striped-shirt man reached for his belt, pulling a PokéBall off of it and pushing the button to enlarge it. Alex glared his way, recognizing the stance for a battle and taking his own.

"Go, Xanthe." He spoke calmly, not looking from the other trainer. The Roserade nodded, taking his place in front of the man.

The opposing Team Aqua grunt sent out a fierce-looking Mightyena. The canine bared her teeth and gave a deep growl from the back of her throat. Her trainer ordered a Fire Fang attack. She obeyed without a second thought, but Alex and Xanthe were just a bit faster. A Grass Knot was all it took to stop the Mightyena dead in her tracks, and a Venoshock finished her off easily.

The second a Milotic was sent out as a replacement, it was defeated as a well-placed Grass Knot used her own weight against her, sending her slamming down to the ground.

"Damnit…" the Aqua grunt muttered under his breath, returning the serpent to her DiveBall. "Only one left, and I have a type disadvantage…" He took a DuskBall from his belt, and threw it in the air…

Xanthe gasped, backing up a step or two.

It was a Cacturne.

Not only that, but Ferroco! The eye patch and the way he held himself...it had to be! But it was so surreal, seeing his friend wearing that bandana and long scarf…

"...Ferroco...?" Xanthe asked, pulling down his hood just in case the shadows cast across his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"What are you doing, Xanthe? Use Venoshock!" Alex yelled. He had apparently been trying to order the Roserade to attack for a few moments now. But he couldn't... he simply couldn't...

Ferroco's situation was no different; Kinsho had yelled "Dark Pulse" at least 3 times. The Cacturne found himself forced to choose between Xanthe and his loyalty to Team Aqua, as well as his trainer…

"Arceus damnit, Ferroco! MOVE!"

The plant in question let his arms fall to his sides. Slowly, he turned his head to look at his trainer out of the corner of his good eye. Their gazes locked for a moment before the Cacturne shook his head in refusal.

Xanthe stared at Ferroco for a moment before being shaken from his shock by his trainer suddenly slapping a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. Alex was currently glaring at Ferroco and the other human.

"Looks like his Pokemon isn't attacking either..." he spoke quietly before looking down at Xanthe. "Is something wrong? Why aren't you attacking?"

Xanthe just grimaced up at him with sad eyes before shaking his head rapidly, backing up another step as if to convey the message of not wanting to fight anymore.

Suddenly the radio on the man's hip beeped loudly. "Some damn kid just defeated the boss! Everyone retreat! Now!" A voice boomed through.

"...Desole..." Xanthe mumbled quietly before turning and running off after his trainer down the corridor…

"I'll deal with you later," Kinsho muttered under his breath through gritted teeth, returning his "prized" companion to his DuskBall and taking off along with the rest of Team Aqua.

XXXXX

Alex sighed heavily, looking over to Xanthe. They were in their quarters, deep inside the inactive volcano. The little Roserade hadn't been the same since he'd seen that Cacturne. He patted his head soothingly, barely receiving a reaction from the Grass-type.

"Xanthe?"

Nothing. He turned the Pokémon toward him, effectively making the other look at him.

"Were you scared? Was that it?"

The Roserade blinked at him a few times before shaking his head 'no'.

"Then what was it?" He gave up, bringing the small plant Pokémon closer. "Sheesh, it's times like these that I wish Pokemon and humans spoke the same language..."

Xanthe stared off into space, still trying to process what had happened back there. Ferroco... was part of Team Aqua.

XXXXX

It took some work, but Ferroco was able to slip out of HQ unseen and make it back to the foot of Mt. Chimney that night, after a thorough chewing out from Kinsho. With any luck, Xanthe would be there. Since the cat was already out of the bag, he saw no point in hiding his uniform from him anymore. A sudden breeze picked the ends of his scarf up off the ground and made it billow beside him as he rounded the same familiar corner of the volcano, praying that the Roserade would be there.

Xanthe bit his lip, looking at the ground from where he sat on a high rock. He pulled his hood down, rubbing the back of his neck. The Poison-type had been sitting out there for an hour or so, waiting to see whether Ferroco would show up. He sighed, willing the throb in his throat away. To say he was devastated was an understatement…

The Cacturne went unnoticed until he stood directly in front of the smaller Pokémon, looking up at him slightly because of where he was perched. The younger gasped, straightening.

"You...you actually came..." he spoke barely above a whisper. The lump in his throat would've been clearly audible if he had spoken even a decibel more than that.

"Por supuesto. Should I not have?" Ferroco cautioned. "If so, then I understand…" he trailed off.

The Roserade stared disconnectedly at the bandana on Ferroco's head. Seeing the Team Aqua symbol that was there made the situation all the more real. He looked away, chewing on the inside of his lip again. "Mais I was waiting for you..."

"Bien, then I'll stay." He took a step closer.

Xanthe wasn't sure what to do. A part of him wanted to yell at the Cacturne and ask why; why he never told him, why he lied to him, why he came back even though they now know about one another…

But another part of him wanted to jump down, wrap his arms around Ferroco, and kiss him full on. He couldn't deny his attraction to the older male. Even if they were supposed to be enemies he felt as if they should throw caution to the wind.

For the moment he kept his eyes glued to a tree to the right of the other male, refusing to look down at him in fear that he would say or do something terrible.

"I'm, uh… I'm sure you have a few questions…" The Spaniard stepped back to his former distance when Xanthe didn't say anything for a moment.

The Roserade nodded, still not looking at the other. "... Did you already know about me being on Team Magma...? Were you pretending this whole time so that you could use me to find the base...?" he continued to speak barely above a whisper.

"No, I honestly had no idea you were with Team Magma," Ferroco answered quickly. "I didn't even know the base was here. I was sent here to search the volcano for Team Magma's base in case it was here, or for any other kind of suspicious activity that might've been going on." His tone slowed.

"I just happened to meet you while I was here. I swear it."

"Then why lie about living in the desert?" He glanced at him for a second before looking back at the trees. "I can understand you not telling me that you were on Team Aqua, but why go out of your way to make sure I didn't know that you have a trainer?"

"Actualmente… not all of it was a lie," Ferroco glanced away. "I really did live in Route 111 my whole life until I was captured about a year and a half ago. You were right, though; I wasn't entirely content there…" He shrugged in a guilty manner. "The most credible lies always have some truth in them."

"Oh..." He thought about that for a minute or two before commenting lightly with feigned, cheerful smile. "All I told you was the truth about me. I just left out the fact that my trainer was part of Team Magma." His tone was light, but the choking feeling in his throat could be heard in the slight tremor his voice held. "I just have one more question..." He gazed down at Ferroco with watery eyes, a sad, wistful smile on his face.

"Where do we go from here?"

"Ay, good question…" The Cacturne heaved a sigh, putting a hand to the back of his neck. In the long run, things probably would've been better for both of them if they just went back to their trainers and forgot anything had ever happened…

Xanthe could feel his hands shake, minutely rustling the red and blue petals on his right hand. The odds were stacked so far up against them... Any sort of friendship was forbidden between the two teams. So of course they'd probably be dumped in the wild to fend for themselves or something if any of their team members found out what they were doing. It was impossible...

"Yo no se…" Ferroco shook his head. "I don't know what we should do from here…"

"..."

He hopped down from the rock, wrapping his arms around Ferroco's middle and hugging him tightly.

"Xanthe…" The taller one returned it, having to crouch down a little.

The smaller stayed like that for a moment before breaking out into a sob. "Why did we have to be on opposite sides..." he murmured before pressing his lips to Ferroco's. After a moment he backed away.

"... We can't see each other anymore..." he cried, breaking apart from him and sprinting off into the night.

Ferroco stood in place for a minute, unsure of what to think. He didn't even get to say goodbye before Xanthe ran off, too far away to see or hear any sign of him…

…

He'd have to be back in his DuskBall before morning. It was best that he get moving; he had a lot of ground to cover. He stowed his scarf and bandana under his regular hat and set off in the direction opposite from where Xanthe had gone.

XXXXX

"Maldito sea… He isn't here…"

Ferroco had searched the entire outside of Mt. Chimney for hours and found nothing but rough, cold stones. What was worse, the sun would be up soon. If he wasn't back in his DuskBall before Kinsho woke up, he'd be in even more trouble than he already was. Maybe…

"Bien. If he isn't here tomorrow night or the night after, then he really doesn't want to see me again," the Cacturne concluded aloud, turning away from the volcano.

_'And I'll just… have to deal with that.'_


	4. Chapter 4 lemon

The Roserade sighed, slapping himself mentally yet again. This was the third time since he'd parted with Ferroco that he'd wandered over to their meeting spot. The Cacturne wasn't ever there and after how he ran away the younger couldn't ask for him to come back. He shrugged, laying down in the grass and curling on his side. If the other Grass-type hadn't been here the last few times he wandered through then he wasn't coming back. It was safe for him to lie here... right?

Xanthe imagined Ferroco next to him and soon fell asleep, sleeping in a daze.

After a few hours of walking, Ferroco finally reached the corner at the foot of the volcano. This was it. If Xanthe wasn't here this time, it was over. He stowed his scarf and bandana away under his regular hat, deciding it'd be easier for Xanthe to see him that way. He took a deep breath, hesitated only a split moment, and turned the corner.

"...Ferroco..." The sleeping Roserade murmured, curling up just a few feet away and smiling softly. "...Tu revenais... Je suis tres heureux..."

"… Si…"Ferroco lay on his side behind the Roserade and pulled him in closer, arms wrapping around him."Yo tambien…"

Xanthe stirred then, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. His arms folding over the ones covering his middle and he gasped, realizing someone was holding onto him, and looked down at the arms. A blush spread over him at recognizing who it was and he looked over his shoulder.

"F-Ferroco? Wha-When...why are you here?" he stuttered.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep~?" he completely ignored Xanthe's question, snickering. Why was he so fun to mess with like this?

The younger blinked. "I-I do...?"

"Si…" Ferroco's voice dropped to a mere rumble more than a whisper. "You seemed to be having some very interesting dreams about me, too~"

Xanthe blushed, turning his head forward. "Umm... what did I say?" he asked, almost scared of the answer. He didn't remember anything from his dream...

"For your own sake, I probably shouldn't tell you… kekeke," the Cacturne snickered again. Hey, this lie was funny. That made it okay.

His face matched how scarlet his eyes were as he stared down at the grass. He panicked inwardly, worrying that he'd moaned out the other's name or something. But he wasn't hard or wet down there at all... so that most likely wasn't the case. But it still bothered him what he had said in his sleep. He looked over his shoulder at the Spaniard, begging.

"... Tell me what I said. S'il vous plait, Ferroco..."

"Adios mio… If only you weren't so cute…" the cactus muttered. "Okay, it really wasn't anything bad. I think you just dreamt that I came back here and you were happy about it. ¿Ironico, si?"

"C'est... so cruel...!" He pouted. Was he really dreaming that...? How corny... He pulled on the arms around him, wanting to shift.

"Bien, what else do you expect from a Dark-type, let alone a Dark-type who wears an eye patch?" He hugged Xanthe a little tighter. "Haven't you heard the stereotypes?

The smaller blinked, having not heard any typecasting things about eye patches or Dark-type Pokémon. "What stereotypes?"

"Ohh, you know… The rumors about how mean and sick and twisted Dark-types are? Aparentemente, we're also very violent, aggressive, untrustworthy, and we have a very cruel sense of humor, if any at all," Ferroco sarcastically listed off some of the gossip he'd heard from humans passing through the desert.

"Oh, and we're all masochists, too."

"Check off the cruel sense of humor..." He muttered flippantly, sticking his tongue out at Ferroco over his shoulder. He almost wanted to ask about the masochism, but chose not to. Better to not provoke any odd sexual fantasies...

"Bien, bien, you got me on that one," he admitted. "Pero, it's not my fault you're so fun to mess with~"

Xanthe sighed, rolling his eyes and looking forward again. He'd heard that plenty of times from Searcium. The stupid Trapinch loved to tease him all the time. He closed his eyes, relaxing into Ferroco's hold. So comfortable... how had he gone a whole week without it?

"So, uh… What are we going to do about this? Splitting up didn't work…" Ferroco hated to bring this up while Xanthe was so comfortable, but it had to be discussed.

"Heh... Obviously..." The Roserade murmured. He looked over his shoulder at the other yet again. "Could you let go of me for a minute?"

The taller did so wordlessly and sat up straight. Xanthe sat up as well, keeping his back to Ferroco as he unbuttoned the Team Magma hood and cape at his shoulder, letting it fall to the ground. He then half-turned to the Cacturne, pulling off his arm warmers.

"If we can manage it, and not get caught, then it's possible..." he began, lifting his leg so he could take off the leg warmer on it, "...for us to stay like we were before..."

He took the other leg warmer off, setting it in the newly formed pile of clothes next to him. His hands went to his belts and undid the buckles, setting them to the side as well before he turned completely to the other Pokémon and sat on his knees in front of him.

"So," he whispered, "can we just forget about Aqua and Magma when we're together?"

Ferroco did his best to ignore the idea that Xanthe was basically stripping right in front of him and nodded. "I'm willing to look past it if you are."

The Roserade nodded speedily, wrapping his arms around the other's neck and kissing him. He returned it, putting his arms around the other Grass-type's waist.

"I missed you this last week..." A blush turned up in his cheeks as he admitted that, scooting forward so that they were flush against each other.

"Yo también." Ferroco's hand snuck its way under Xanthe's cape as he spoke. "I missed you a lot."

His blush just darkened at hearing that and he pressed his lips to the Dark-type's once again. The latter eagerly returned it for a moment before shoving Xanthe onto his back without warning, pinning him down. The younger gasped, hands falling to either side of his head on the ground as he stared up at Ferroco with wide eyes.

"Q'uest-ce...?"

The Cacturne's lips twisted into a smirk. He leaned down to the smaller plant and claimed his lips once more, albeit a little more forcefully this time.

"Mmmph..." Xanthe moaned from the force, leaving his hands by his head for the moment as the larger male kissed him. One of Ferroco's hands went to Xanthe's chest to firmly rub at it as their kissing went on. A soft moan escaped the younger, the noise disappearing in their kiss. He placed his hand on Ferroco's chest, sliding it up to cup his jaw. The elder's unoccupied hand made its way back under Xanthe's cape, tracing his spine. He sucked in a breath from the shiver that followed, arching his back into the hand on his chest.

Ferroco's mouth was removed from Xanthe's and made its way down to his neck, leaving a trail of kisses in its wake. The latter stretched his neck to the side, breathing shallowly. His hand that was on the other's jaw fell beside his head once again. The Cacturne's mouth then went to the younger's chest, replacing his hand. Xanthe threw his head back with a breathy moan.

Ferroco took advantage of his open mouth and covered it with his own, moving both hands to his hips. The smaller moved his lips with the Cacturne's, wrapping his arms around his neck to bring them closer.

"Mmph…" Ferroco lightly moaned into the kiss, rubbing his partner's hips in circles. The Roserade backed away from the kiss, catching his breath in short pants. His eyes cracked open slightly.

"Having trouble keeping up?" Ferroco snickered, moving one hand to Xanthe's leg. He pulled the larger closer to him.

"Ferme ta bouche et embrasse-moi."

"Bien, si insistes…" With that short exchange, their lips were joined again.

"Mmmm..." The Roserade moaned into the kiss.

Ferroco worked both hands over to Xanthe's thighs, just under his rear. The latter moaned again, whimpering slightly as he realized that he'd have to leave soon. He pushed the Cacturne back a little to break the kiss, staring up into his eye.

"I really hate to have to stop this... but it's about time for me to head back..." He looked over to where the beginnings of orange and red were highlighting the horizon.

"… Bien." Ferroco backed up, giving Xanthe room. "When can I see you again?"

"As soon as possible!" He sat up halfway, answering immediately with a grin. Then he paused to think when that would be. "Not tomorrow night, but the night after."

"Sounds good." The taller plant pushed himself up to stand. "I'll see you then."

Xanthe stood as well, legs a little wobbly from their exertion, and reached out for Ferroco. He wrapped his arms around the Cacturne's neck, smiling sweetly. "Don't I get a goodbye kiss?"

"Por supuesto. Why wouldn't you?" He smirked, pulling the other in for one last kiss. The smaller plant hummed happily against the other's lips, pressing their chests together in a semi-hug.

Their lips parted after a moment, and Ferroco hesitantly stood up straight again. The smaller let his hands slide down to his chest, laying his forehead in-between them while the Dark-type pulled him in closer and wrapped his arms around his petite frame in a last-minute hug.

Xanthe smiled sheepishly once they broke apart. "Au revoir..."

"Adios," Ferroco nodded once, tipping his hat.

XXXXX

Xanthe rounded the last tree to their meeting point. "Ferroco...?" He whispered, looking around to see if he could spot the Cacturne. Two hands then abruptly covered Xanthe's eyes, blinding him.

"Guess who~" a familiar voice whispered.

The younger giggled, laying his hands lightly over the ones on his eyes. "You're a nut, you know that?" He asked, still laughing.

"Si, yo se," the Cacturne snickered, letting go. "Funny, I actually never stalked anyone before this."

The Roserade turned around to face the other, giving an awkward yet happy smile. "I'm not quite sure if I should be concerned or honored at hearing that."

"Meh, neither am I," Ferroco shrugged.

Xanthe blinked. "That makes no sense..."He hooked his arm through Ferroco's and grinned up at him cheerfully. "Wanna go for a swim? There's a small watering hole nearby."

"I'm up for it if you are," the taller one shrugged again. "I'm just a bit surprised that you would be."

"Why's that?" He thought about it for a second before immediately spouting, "Oh! Because I'm in Team Magma?"

"Si," Ferroco tipped the front of his hat up just enough to reveal a bit of his bandana.

Xanthe just gave another sheepish smile. "That's because Alex is in Team Magma. Yeah, I can see their points and everything but I am a plant after all. I can't live without water. And I do like swimming, so let's go," he piped cheerfully, already pulling the larger Pokémon along with him.

"How deep did you say it was again?"

"Ummm..." He put a finger to his bottom lip, looking up to the sky as if it had his answer. "I don't actually know. I know I can swim pretty far below the water so I guess the deepest part could be around fifteen to twenty feet."

"Agh… Is there anywhere shallower than that?" Hopefully there was…

"Yeah. It can be anywhere from three inches to seven feet. It's pretty gradual from the edge of the water. At seven feet it kind of drops a suddenly, but that's pretty far out into the center of the lake. What, can the Team Aqua Cacturne not swim that well?" He smirked.

"I can swim just fine," the Dark-type's answer was a bit defensive. "I'm just not built for it is all."

Xanthe eyed him up and down. "Hmmm... I can swim just as well as the next guy. I'm no professional, but I am pretty slender and _very_ flexible." His tone in the last bit of his sentence suggested things other than what they were talking about.

"Bien, _tu suerte_," Ferroco's answer was sarcastic, if not a little irritated. "I absorb any water I touch and then I get bloated and move slowly. For weeks."

"Oh..." The Roserade let his gaze fall to the ground, feeling ashamed that he had tried to flirt and it only made the other angry with him. He stopped, realizing they had made it to the lake, and frowned slightly.

"...Maybe we shouldn't swim after all... if you swell up so much from just touching water then it isn't that good of an idea..."

Oh, great, Ferroco. Now you've gone and upset him.

"I'll still do it," Ferroco offered. "I just won't get in too deep. Besides…" He smirked, seeing an opportunity to say something really creepy.

"I can bleed it back out later, with a deep enough cut."

Xanthe cringed. "Ew. Isn't that bad for you?"

"Not really. The last time I did it, it left a bit of a scar, but now you can barely see it." He held out his arm and indicated one spot on the upper half of it, tracing a very thin scar across it.

The smaller began chewing on the inside of his lip. "I'd hate to have you swimming just for my sake... If you don't want to that's fine. We can do something else," he offered, not wanting to be a bother and make the cactus do something like cutting himself.

"I could at least wade…" Ferroco muttered. Xanthe kissed his cheek.

"You're sweet, you know that?" he beamed, hugging onto the taller's arm.

"_Si, yo se~_" the Cacturne used a sing-song tone.

The younger just giggled, still hugging onto his arm as the former pulled him in a bit closer. Xanthe sighed contently, noticing the pull and moving from hugging the Dark-type's arm to hugging him properly, arms around his middle. Ferroco returned it, bringing his arms to rest across the smaller plant's back.

He backed up an inch or two, kissing Ferroco chastely. "Let's go in."

After a while of swimming they got out of the lake, Xanthe laughing at Ferroco's now much bulkier form. The Cacturne had only waded, staying in the shallowest part of the lake whilst watching Xanthe do tricks under the water in the deeper end, but he had still become nothing short of morbidly obese from absorbing so much water.

The elder just leered at him before smirking, tearing a thorn off his arm, and cutting into the same limb in the exact same place he had that thin scar, slicing the old wound open again. This made the Roserade cringe bodily, turning around and sitting down on the ground to wait out what the other was doing.

Water quickly poured out of the cut until there was none left to pour out, and Ferroco was reverted back to usual—and seemingly malnourished—proportions. Now that the Cacturne was virtually devoid of all bodily fluids, and there were no other immediate plans, this left the two with an awkward silence.

Why not make it even more awkward?

"...So do I screw you now or what?"

The younger straightened immediately, loosing balance and falling over onto his back from his sitting position."B-Bete! Stop saying strange things!"

"I would if your reactions weren't so priceless!" Ferroco laughed openly. "You should've seen the look on your face!" He extended one arm out to Xanthe. "Need help getting up?"

The Roserade smirked, grabbing onto the extended arm and pulling him down to the ground next to him. He burst out in a fit of laughter.

"Should I take this as a 'yes' to my previous question?" Ferroco played it off easily, sitting up to lean over the Roserade with a smirk. The younger blushed profusely, blinking up at the Cacturne.

"S-..." He turned his head to the side, closing his eyes. "Stop joking around..." He mumbled, his tone not sounding angry at all.

"Maybe I'm not joking," Ferroco murmured, bringing his face closer. Xanthe could feel his heart fluttering and he slowly turned his head back, pressing his lips to Ferroco's lightly.

"Then stop sounding like you are..." He whispered before wrapping his arms around the elder's neck and kissing him fully.

"Mmph…" the Cacturne returned it, holding himself above the other with both hands on either side of his head.

The Poison-type licked at the other's lip, amused when he took dominance over the kiss almost immediately. The Dark-type crawled over him and he let him nuzzle his knees in between his legs, forcing his own knees to be on either side of the Cacturne's hips. Ferroco's hands then went to Xanthe's shoulders, rubbing at them as the kiss deepened.

Moans escaped the younger as they continued and soon enough just kissing alone just wasn't going to cut it. He dipped one of his legs between Ferroco's and nudged it against the larger Pokémon's groin gently, rocking it back and forth.

A light moan escaped Ferroco's throat as Xanthe's leg rubbed over his sheath, but he did nothing to object to it.

The Roserade smirked at the small noise and backed away a little, turning his head to the side. "Mm-me too...?"

"Cualquier cosa por ti…" the older one smirked, sliding one hand down between Xanthe's thighs.

"Ah!" Xanthe bit his lip, moaning at the movement below. He pushed their lips back together, trying to keep his knee going and not get lost in the pleasure being given to him. Ferroco kept up easily, but didn't let the motion of his hand become mechanical. His other hand had to take on the weight it would've otherwise kept up.

The smaller threw his head to the side, breaking the kiss with a load moan as he came out of his sheath, the hand never stopping yet changing the way it worked over him. His breath drew heavily and he moaned with abandon, hips bucking into the hand on him.

"Is someone enjoying himself?" the Dark-type snickered, still working his hand over Xanthe's groin, rubbing over his tip periodically.

"Mmh... shut... nngh! ... Shut your-ah!" He had a hard time fighting back verbally, loosing himself in the pleasure.

"Lo siento, what was that~?" He rubbed harder.

Xanthe just moaned and looked up at the Cacturne with pleading, watery eyes. "F-Ferroco..." He whimpered.

"Si, mi dulce?" The rubbing still didn't let up, and was very effectively coaxing the Roserade out of his sheath. Xanthe closed his eyes, hugging Ferroco closer to his smaller body and panting into his neck.

"Et tu... tu... et tu..." he whimpered out between moans.

Loving the reactions he was getting out of Xanthe, Ferroco tried letting his hand linger at the tip of his stiffening member. The former gasped, bucking into the hand. Ferroco then went back to rubbing the underside of it, deciding that his partner may be getting a tad too excited.

Xanthe bit his lip, pulling an arm away and snaking it down to Ferroco's member, beginning to tease it out of its sheath with staggered strokes. His face stayed hidden in the Cacturne's neck. Ferroco's actions on Xanthe's length lessened a little at this, so as to allow the smaller male a little more focus.

With his head clearing somewhat at Ferroco's diminishing ministrations, he tried to focus more on what he was doing, switching between slow strokes and quick jerks with his wrist. He kissed his way up the Dark-type's jaw, connecting their lips yet again. The latter returned it eagerly, having no trouble focusing on what he was doing.

With the new pace the other had set, Xanthe was getting closer and closer to release. The thought of releasing first embarrassed him and he sped up his strokes.

"Nngh…" Ferroco had to put a bit of effort into keeping his hips still. The smaller had to pull back from the kiss, throwing his head back as his breaths became heavy and arching into the Pokémon on top of him.

"Je... Je vais... Ahh!"

Ferroco kept a hand on Xanthe's tip to make sure the mess was minimal."That sure didn't take too long," he sneered.

Xanthe pretended not to hear him, still coming down from his orgasmic high. He tried to calm his breathing before he started stroking the Cacturne once again. Ferroco removed his hand at this point and set it back beside Xanthe's head, holding himself up a little better.

The younger kept his eyes half-lidded, his view darting from Ferroco's jaw to his chest and arms as he quickened his pace.

Ferroco could feel himself dripping lubrication at this point, but still kept his composure. He leaned in to leave a few kisses on Xanthe's neck. The latter shuddered as an aftershock of his orgasm ran through him, whimpering slightly and tightening his hold for a second on the Cacturne's rather long, but not very thick member.

"Ngh…" the Cacturne faltered a bit. The squeeze was unexpected, but not at all unpleasant. Noticing the reaction that he gave, the masked rose made sure to constrict his hold every now and then, earning a few grunts every time he did so.

"Mmph…" The older plant could feel himself being worked toward a release, still leaving kisses along the other's neck. Xanthe teased the head for a moment, circling it lightly, before going back to pumping the organ.

It was getting closer. Ferroco tensed at nearly every stroke, and couldn't do a thing to slow down his breathing. Just a bit more…

Xanthe gasped as warm liquid splattered his chest and stomach, relishing in the low moan that Ferroco gave as he came. He kissed the Cacturne's jaw, smiling softly against the dark green skin.

That had tired him out more than expected. He moved off of Xanthe and lay beside him, still panting a bit. The younger chuckled at this, standing up and going over to the river to rinse off his torso.

Lying on his back, it was easy for the Cacturne to notice the sun would be up before long, as a hint of pink edged the horizon…

This was going to be an awkward walk home unless he regained the feeling in his thighs soon.

Xanthe finished what he was doing and waltzed back over to where the other Pokémon was lying, sitting next to him and leaning over his frame. He pressed their lips together briefly.

"It's about time for us to leave, huh?" He asked, his voice giving evidence of his not wanting to leave the other male so soon.

"Looks like it…" the Spaniard nodded, reluctantly bringing himself up to sit. Xanthe pouted somewhat, sitting up on his knees and wrapping his arms around Ferroco's neck in a tight embrace.

"Tomorrow night then...?"

"I'm not sure…" Ferroco grimaced a tad. "It's a long trip from base to here; I can't do it every night…"

"O-oh..." Xanthe didn't bother hiding his disappointment from his voice. He only had to walk for about ten minutes to get out of Team Magma's base and climb down to the volcano, but he hadn't realized that Ferroco probably had a much longer commute. He didn't even know where Team Aqua's base was. It was probably much farther away in the region, closer to the ocean.

"How about we meet again la noche después de mañana?" the cactus offered.

The smaller plant pulled back with a smile. "Okay. The night after tomorrow, then," he agreed, connecting their lips for a goodbye kiss. Ferroco's arms went around the Roserade's waist one more time before the kiss ended.

After a moment they separated, stood, and said their goodbyes, leaving in their opposite directions just as they always had before.


	5. Chapter 5

Groudon was supposedly deep in the tunnels of Terra Cave, slumbering in a chamber filled with molten lava, but Team Magma's expedition hadn't run across the legendary. Alex and a few other members of Team Magma, as well as their leader, had been searching through the caverns for almost two hours and still haven't found anything. After so long their leader ordered them to rest for a few minutes to catch their breath. Alex found himself grinding his teeth. They had come so far! He reached to his belt, pulling off the ball that held his most trusted Pokémon.

"Xanthe! Come out!" he called the Roserade, greeting him in their usual way.

"I need you to search a little further up ahead for us. We know Groudon is here, but we just don't know which path. Now go."

The red-clad Grass-type nodded, turning and going down one of the paths.

Team Aqua was having no such luck either. The search had lasted over an hour as of yet and Archie wasn't about to stop this soon. Kyogre was bound to be deep in these cold, damp caves, in a chamber full of saltwater, sound asleep, just waiting for him to catch it…

Unbeknownst to them, Team Magma was just up ahead.

Xanthe heard noise up ahead and sprinted a bit towards it. He realized it was the sound of humans and stopped, tiptoeing to the edge and looking around the corner. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of Team Aqua.

He was about to turn back around to warn everyone when he spotted Ferroco. The Dark-type was turned around, staring at a wall as he thought about something while waking at his trainer's side. He was close enough that if the Roserade made a noise he would turn around, but so would a few others. So instead he just threw a small pebble, successfully making the Cacturne turn his head.

Ferroco picked up the pace a little to round the corner before anyone else in the group… and for once was not at all thrilled to see Xanthe.

"What is Team Aqua doing here!" The Roserade spat, not meaning to sound harsh. His eyes conveyed his concern, but before Ferroco could answer he heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction. Xanthe turned around just in time to lock eyes with Alex. The man gaped at him before glaring at the Spaniard.

"It's that Cacturne again!" He growled out, darting over to the two of them. The rest of Team Magma ran into the open cavern just as Team Aqua rounded the corner.

"Mierda…" Ferroco muttered under his breath, backing away to his trainer's side. He was already in more than enough trouble for refusing to battle Xanthe a few days ago; best not to make it worse…

"Hmph. Seems great minds think alike, Maxie," Archie came to the front of his group.

The leader of Team Magma did the same, his shoulder length red hair swaying as he stood firmly in front of the group. He growled a little under his breath, glowering at the man that called him out as he forced a smile.

"Seems so."

The men behind him whispered around to each other.

"Maxie?"

"The boss's name is Maximillion, isn't it?"

"Do they know each other?"

He turned to face them, and the look on his face made them all straighten, silencing their murmurs. He then turned back to Archie, placing a hand on his hip in agitation.

"And what, pray tell, is Team Aqua doing here?"

"Intelligent question," Archie spoke evenly, though the sarcasm was clearly displayed in his tone. "If I'm not mistaken, we're both after similar goals. It is rumored that both Kyogre and Groudon visit these caves on occasion, and we're investigating that rumor to see if there is any truth to it."

Maxie scoffed. "We've been here for a while. If my men haven't found anything, I doubt yours can."

"Your doubts are a little misplaced," Archie smirked. "It seems we've covered as much ground as you have in roughly half the time, _Maxie_."

He balled his free hand into a fist, taking a step toward the other man. "S-stop calling me that!" A tinge of pink dusted his cheeks as he glared. He saw the man's smirk and turned toward his own men.

"What are you waiting for? Get them!" He pointed directly at Team Aqua and suddenly all the men that were behind him sprung forward, bringing out their Pokémon and getting ready for battle.

"You always did have a short fuse…" Archie grumbled. This wouldn't get either of them any closer to the legendary Pokémon that would help them obtain their goals…

"Team Aqua, hold your own!"

With that command, a huge free-for-all broke out.

Mightyena were at each others' throats, Sharpedo were burned to a crisp, Camerupt were knocked onto their sides, and the screeches of fluttering Golbat rung out in the air above them all.

Maxie glanced back at Archie for a moment before one of the burly man's henchmen challenged him. He gladly took him on, releasing his first Pokémon, a Crobat.

Suddenly loud roars could be heard, echoing from much deeper inside the cave. The men and women from each faction stopped, mid-battle, and ran further down the tunnels to see what was going on. Rocks and boulders fell from the ceilings and at the mouth of the cave, blocking their path. They backed away, gasping at the rubble.

Maxie's eyes darted around and he saw that all the paths leading to escape were obstructed. Water seeped through the cracks between the rocks, beginning to fill the cavern.

They were all trapped.

"Arceusdammit…" Archie growled. He turned back to face Team Magma, and noted that the floor of the cave was already covered by half an inch of water. "Well, Maxie, you started this, now how do you propose we get out of it?" he demanded.

"Shut up! I'm thinking!" He snapped back, already walking toward the other leader. He noticed his men already trying to break the rubble by using their Pokémon and Archie's men doing the same. He looked back at the man, shifting his weight to one foot."We're not going to get out of here by fighting..." he admitted glumly. "We... we need to pull our teams together and use both our Pokémons' abilities to break through the barriers..."

He jutted out a hand to Archie, looking down at the floor of the cave to avoid eye contact. "So, truce?"

"…For now," Archie agreed, though begrudgingly, taking the other man's hand in his. "Don't think for one second our dispute is over because of this."

"Of course not." He grinned spitefully up at the man. "I wouldn't dream of it."

He shook the other's hand quickly before letting go and going over to his men, telling them of their need to work together with Team Aqua. They all gave him a look like he was crazy before nodding and joining the blue-and-white-clad group at the tunnel they were working on. With a good amount of attacks, the boulders on both sides were smashed.

Unfortunately, this freed up the flow of water.

Everyone was flooded out of the cave without warning, landing-miraculously unharmed-on a dry portion of land just out of the way of the impending destruction.

Maxie's eyes darted around in a panic, making sure everyone was okay before breaking out in a fit of hysterical laughter from the adrenaline. He had managed to land right next to Archie and the dark-haired man started laughing with him, realizing they had just made it out of that death pit alive. The men began joining them one by one until they were all chiding along at the odd circumstances.

But the laughter ended abruptly when the roars of the two legendary Pokémon echoed through the air, bringing their attention to the devastating scene directly in front of them.

The roars were coming from the distance, on the other end of the region. From the mountains, it could be seen that above Sootopolis City, the weather was beginning to act strangely. On one half of the sky above the city, it was pouring heavy rain, while on the other side, the sun burnt harshly. The phenomenon was growing rapidly, and soon encompassed the entire area surrounding Sootopolis…

XXXXX

In the center of Sootopolis, Kyogre and Groudon raged.

Citizens watched in fear and awe as the two clashed. Kyogre blasted a hearty Hydro Pump while Groudon countered with Fire Blast, creating a cover of steam that surrounded them and obscured them from view. Silhouettes in motion could still be seen periodically as both Pokémon blasted beams of light and energy at one another.

Above the roars that rung out and echoed off the rock walls surrounding the city, a shrill screech reminiscent of the sound of grinding steel broke out in the air. The cause: The Hoenn Champion himself, Steven, rode in on the back of his Skarmory and landed flawlessly on the sidelines, only a few feet away from Teams Magma and Aqua.

"You two really went and did it this time." The Steel-type trainer waltzed right up to Archie and Maxie, but somehow didn't seem at all angry. It was that kind of calm tone that let you know you were in serious trouble, like a parent scolding their child.

"You both finally got your wish. Now what?"

Maxie looked to the dueling legendary monsters, then to the soon-to-be-demolished town full of cowering bystanders, and then to the weather phenomenon above. At this rate, the entire region… no, the whole world would be destroyed within hours!

"I didn't wish for something like this..." he mumbled.

"You know damn well neither of us was aiming for this to happen," Archie wasn't so quick to apologize. "And playing that 'high and mighty' shit isn't going to fix it, either."

Maxie sighed tiredly at his old rival's behavior, stepping between the fuming man and Steven. "Look. You obviously have a plan of some sort, so what is it?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"And here I thought you two already knew the full legend you've been messing with," Steven shrugged. "Countless millennia ago, when Kyogre and Groudon first battled and created the oceans and continents, a third legendary Pokémon came between them and made them cease fighting."

"We both knew that," Archie dismissed being patronized. "But Rayquaza flies in the ozone layer and rarely ever lands, and even when it does, no one knows where."

Steven and Maxie both looked up as an earsplitting roar rumbled through the sky. Steven smirked back at Archie.

"Looks like it's landing now."

"Yeah, right here!" Maxie exclaimed, turning to his men and calling them to flee the area as he, Steven, and Archie did the same in the opposite direction.

The colossal serpent lingered over the other two Pokémon, glaring at them and emitting an irritated screech. The effects of the abnormal weather dissipated as Rayquaza lifted its head up and roared out loud, causing both land and sea to tremble.

The other two ancient Pokémon both hissed at it, but began to back away on either side of the dragon.

Unsatisfied with this alone, the emerald-scaled legendary began to gather a Dragon Pulse in its gaping jaws. It fired the attack first at the land near where Groudon stood, then at the water beside Kyogre, threatening to hit them both.

This convinced the other two to leave altogether. Kyogre let itself sink into the ocean, and Groudon disappeared into a fissure it created, all while Rayquaza glared at the both of them from above, keeping a close watch.

The three men watched as Rayquaza roared once more, bringing normality and order back to Sootopolis before it flew back up into the sky.

Both Teams Aqua and Magma gaped at what had occurred, not noticing the officers headed their way until they were forced to put their hands in the air and kneel on the ground.

Officer Jenny smiled over to Steven. "We'll be taking these guys in. Thanks for keeping them here."

"What'd they do, Jenny?" he asked, his expression cool as ever.

"They brought out Kyogre and Groudon. And you saw that mess those legendaries created." She said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"These guys had nothing to do with the legendaries breaking free." The bluenette just blinked, but before she could say anything else Steven beamed, "And what mess?"

She pointed out toward Sootopolis. "That me-...!"

Steven just smirked as she realized there was nothing wrong with the town at all. Rayquaza had somehow fixed everything back to normal before it had left.

At her blank stare he just spoke up smugly, "Sooo, they're free to go right? There's no reason to lock them up if there's nothing to charge them with."

"R-right..." She turned back at the other officers with a glum nod. They released the teams, allowing them to stand before heading back to their vehicles. She turned to the leaders.

"Don't think this is over. We'll get you guys!" She said with her playful yet firm tone.

Steven laughed, watching the cars go back down the hill.

"Now that this is over, you two have no business here," Steven turned his attention back to the—luckily non-convicted—criminals. "I suggest you both leave, and take your followers with you."

"You can't tell us what to do," Archie countered calmly, although resentment was lacing his tone.

Maxie just put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Archie. He's right. We have no business here anymore. Let's go."

Begrudgingly and wordlessly, the other gave a nod.

XXXXX

Xanthe fidgeted awkwardly. The air in the mess hall was stifling. Both Teams Aqua and Magma had gone back to Team Magma's hideout, seeing as their aims had been proven unsound by the destruction of Sootopolis. He looked up at Alex, noticing his twitching eye as a sign of irritation. He couldn't help but glance at Ferroco every now and then but for the most part he just kept his eyes glued to the floor directly in front of where he was sitting.

Ferroco remained almost entirely still at Kinsho's side, with his hat angled forward to cover his eyes. The mood in the room was already tense; best not to start anything by accident.

"Damnit, I can't stand this!"Xanthe jumped, looking at Alex as he stood with a huff. What was he doing?

"It's too quiet!" He started walking toward the exit but a member of Team Aqua blocked his way. She stood with her arms crossed, long, wavy, blonde hair swishing as she looked at him."And where do you think you're going? Our leaders told us to stay in here until they finished speaking with one another."

"I'm going to get my stereo. It's so uncomfortable in here and the air is so still that it's practically suffocating. Music may lighten things up. If anything it'll at least fill this empty silence."

Her eyes widened; she obviously wasn't expecting him to say he was trying to improve the situation. Xanthe hopped up, bounding toward his trainer and grabbing onto his arm with a grin. Alex smiled down at him, patting his head.

"You wanna help, boy?"

The Pokémon nodded and Alex looked up at the woman.

"How about you?"

"What?"

"Do you want to come with? If anything you can just make sure I'm going to come back." He winked, walking past her and out the door. She looked back at her fellow teammates and sighed, following him.

After a little while they returned to the large hall. Alex walked in first with two large speakers in his arms, Xanthe had a crate full of CDs, and the woman ended up carrying the stereo itself. They walked to the farthest part of the room, all eyes watching them, and set down the equipment.

Alex turned to the crowd once he hooked everything up. "Anyone want to look through this stuff and pick the first song?"

Most of Team Magma stood up, knowing full well that Alex wasn't going to stop until everyone was having fun, and went over to the box immediately. The Team Aqua members just looked around at each other, questioning glances of 'should we?' passing by before some of them stood up, going towards the box and sifting through as well.

Only a few minutes passed before music was playing and the team members were talking over what sorts of music they liked. Alex grinned at his accomplishment for a second before Xanthe and a few other Pokémon of his pulled him out to the center of the hall, dancing around him to the music. He just laughed, looking over to some of his friends and motioning for them to join him. His friends laughed as well, letting their Pokémon out and joining the man and his Pokémon.

Xanthe looked up at the man after a few of the Team Aqua members joined them as well, smiling with admiration.

His trainer really was amazing.

XXXXX

In another, smaller room, the two leaders of the teams sat at opposite ends of a conference table, discussing what was to come next.

Maxie sighed heavily, resting his head in his hand. "There's not really anywhere we can go from here, is there?"

"Not that I can tell." Archie folded his arms.

The redhead examined his other hand for a moment, thinking back to when they were young. After a minute of the silence between them he just closed his eyes and set his hand on the table. "What happened to us?" He asked quietly. "We used to be such close friends..."

Archie raised an eyebrow at that question. He should've expected Maxie to bring that up."We had different ideals, I guess…"

Maxie kept his eyes closed, fiddling with his fingers on the hand that wasn't supporting his head. "Sometimes I wonder if that's really what made us split apart..."

"What do you mean? What else could it have been?"

"I..." Maxie stopped as he realized what he was about to say and stood up abruptly, his chair scooting across the floor with a loud screech. "I don't know what I'm talking about. Just ignore that."

"You're thinking the same thing I am, then," the other suspected.

"And?" The redhead paused, looking up at Archie. "What would that be?

"It might sound a bit weird being said out loud…" Archie started, straightening up a bit, "but maybe the reason we split up is because we're too much alike, not different."

"Ah," Maxie could almost feel the comical sweat drop sliding down his brow. "That could be it."

"Even if our goals were different, we went about obtaining them the same way, didn't we?" Archie pointed out.

"Huh," he thought about that for a second, sitting back down with a small chuckle. "I suppose you're right. We did."

"If anything else, we ended up in the same place." The Team Aqua leader leaned back in his chair a little. "Maybe things would be easier if it just stayed that way."

"Archie…" Maxie set his elbows on the table, crossing his fingers and placing his chin on them as he stared across at the raven. "Are you suggesting that Teams Aqua and Magma join?"

"I don't see why not," the latter shrugged.

Maxie gave up his serious face and grinned. "Sounds good to me." He got up, walking over to Archie and leaning on the table to the right of the man. "Our men might not be up for the idea though. The ideas of us pretty much being enemies has been embedded into their heads, you know."

"Too bad it's not up to them," the reply came as a snicker. "If they don't do as we say, they're out of a job."

"Eeh? So cruel!" the redhead laughed, waiting for the man to stand before going over to the door. "Come. Let's tell them of our decision."

Archie followed close behind.

They walked down the halls in comfortable silence beside each other before they stopped in front of the mess hall doors. Noises could be heard from the other side and Maxie arched an eyebrow, looking back at Archie for a second. The raven just shrugged and the Team Magma leader opened the doors, gasping.

Both team members were dancing with each other in the middle of the large room, their Pokémon joyously prancing around. The ones that weren't dancing were all along the walls, immersed in conversation or laughing. Once the doors opened all the way with a loud thud against the walls everyone stopped, looked at the leaders, and paled, straightening and saluting them immediately.

"Sirs!"

There would've been an awkward silence if music hadn't still been playing, but that only made it even more awkward.

"Well, I can clearly see you're all enjoying yourselves," Archie's tone switched from informal to commanding seamlessly.

Maxie put one hand on his hip, walking through the crowd. All the men parted as he passed, moving closer to the walls. He calmly turned off the stereo once he got to it, turning around on his heel."We have an announcement!" His eyes locked with Archie's, nodding once to let him give the actual announcement itself.

"From here on in," the raven's voice echoed a bit off the walls, "Teams Aqua and Magma are to be joined as one."

Of course, he made sure to say 'Aqua' before 'Magma.'

The members looked around at their newfound friends and gave looks of 'huh, that's cool' before saluting again.

"Yes sirs!"

Maxie just patted one of the Team Magma member's shoulders. "And what better way to celebrate than with dancing and music?" He looked to the other leader with a grin. "Right, Archie?"

"I don't dance," was his dry answer to that.

"Sour puss," the redhead grumbled.

"Gabriella?" He called, looking around the crowd. "Gabri-..." A small, dark-skinned woman walked up to him. "Ah, there you are. Why don't you choose a few sturdy men and go down to the liquor cellar?" He turned to the crowd, waving his arm in a ostentatious manner.

"Let's make this a celebration!"

Cheers were heard from all of them before someone turned the stereo back on. Maxie leaned down to Gabriella, cupping a hand over her ear. "And bring a bottle of 1892 to 1923 Chateau to my office." She nodded, going about the room to see who would go with her.

Maxie went over to the other side of the room, patting Archie on the back and leading him back through the doors. "You and I are going to have a little party of our own," he grinned, making a drinking motion with the hand that wasn't on the burly man's back.

"Fine by me," the former smirked. "Just try and keep up."


	6. Chapter 6 LEMON

Eventually both teams… err, the _entire_ team had gone to sleep, no doubt only to awaken 10 hours later with a hangover.

Kinsho was so out of it, he didn't even budge when Ferroco escaped his DuskBall and left the room. He'd kept track of which room Xanthe and Alex had gone to stay in for the night, and made his way to it through the halls without a sound, then proceeded to open the door in much the same manner.

Peeking in, the Cacturne could clearly see that Xanthe's trainer was out cold, and Xanthe lay on the opposite side of the room, sleeping soundly. Good thing he wasn't in his PokéBall.

"Pssst. Xanthe," he called softly, keeping his voice down to little more than a whisper.

Xanthe moaned softly in his sleepy state, turning over and facing the door. Ferroco whispered his name again and his eyes slowly opened to see the other's feet. He blinked, sitting up half-way and rubbing at one eye.

"Ferroco...?" he mumbled, at least aware enough not to speak too loudly in case his trainer were to hear it and wake up.

The aforementioned Cacturne waved him over without speaking a word.

The Roserade looked over to Alex, to make sure he was asleep, before getting up and going to the door. He closed it quietly and looked up at Ferroco expectantly.

"Sorry to wake you," Ferroco started, making sure to keep his voice to a whisper. "I just wanted to see you. Alone."

Xanthe blushed, swallowing whatever was in his throat. "C'mon..." He whispered, grabbing the other's hand. "We should go outside so we can speak freely."

They walked down a few corridors until finally exiting the hideout and ending up outside. The stars shone brightly above them and the Poison-type took a deep breath of the late-night air, smiling.

"It's been a little while since we've been out here a esta hora, hm?" the Cacturne observed.

"Oui..." he suddenly had a far off look in his eyes. "It has..." He spun on his heel, clasping his hands behind his back and smiling up at the other male. "I'm glad we can do this again."

"As am I," Ferroco's smirk was practically audible as he spoke. "Last time was rather… idivertido/i. Hehe."

Xanthe blushed, looking off to the side in embarrassment. "Umm, yeah..."

The older plant hesitated a little at this. "Is, uh… something wrong?"

The Roserade looked back up at him, startled by the odd tone. "Ah, no." He took a couple steps forward and wrapped his arms around the Cacturne's neck, smiling broadly. "Pardon moi, I'm still waking up."

"Entiendo." The other returned the embrace, snaking his arms around Xanthe's waist. The latter kissed Ferroco chastely.

"I wonder what it's going to be like from now on... with the teams being one..."

"It should be easier for _us_, at least…" Ferroco shrugged. "I wonder if we'll have to relocate somewhere…"

The younger set his head against the Spaniard's shoulder. "Maybe..."

"Somewhere near Fortree would be nice," Ferroco speculated. "I hear it rains often there, and the humans don't cut down the plants…"

"Let the leaders deal with that," Xanthe murmured, lifting his head and pressing his lips to Ferroco's.

"And you should deal with me," he added playfully.

"Si insistes…" the Cacturne's voice lowered to a murmur, but his smirk returned with a vengeance. He pulled the Roserade in a little closer. Xanthe giggled slightly, moving his lips against the other's with a content hum.

Ferroco's hands started to roam around the other's back, underneath his cape. He returned to the habit of tracing his spine. A small noise came from the younger as a shiver traveled the same path. Both hands then went to the smaller plant's hips to rub them in a circular motion.

"Mmmm..." Xanthe ran his hands down the taller Pokémon's chest then back up again, making sure not to break the kiss. Only when Xanthe did this did Ferroco realize how incredibly bony his chest was; he could prominently feel every rib being touched. It was only a fleeting thought, anyway, and he put more focus into teasing the other, suggestively running one hand over the back of a thigh.

"Should we lie down...?" The other suggested, cracking his eyes open. He ran his hands back down Ferroco's abdomen, getting precariously close to his crotch. Ferroco picked up on this and made sure not to falter.

"Sounds good to me~"

Xanthe smiled, sitting down gracefully on the grass and lying down when Ferroco took his place between his spread legs. The older plant made sure not to lay his full weight down on the other, keeping himself up by placing a hand at either side of Xanthe's head.

The latter leaned up the short distance to connect their lips. Ferroco deepened it, taking advantage of Xanthe's ajar mouth. Xanthe ran a hand down the Dark-type's side, trailing it from his hip to his groin and massaging the spot slowly.

"Mmmph…" the Cacturne gave a light moan at the contact. Xanthe smirked a little into the kiss, rubbing slightly faster. He grabbed one of Ferroco's hands and laid it on his own groin, gasping as the other started rubbing in time with him. Skillfully, the cactus ran his hand over and around the other's sheath in a somewhat subtle attempt to expose him first.

The younger's breath hitched and he turned his head from the kiss, moving his lips along Ferroco's jaw. His hand slid back and forth along the Dark-type's sheath. Ferroco gave a low moan, but kept it quiet, tilting his head up a bit to allow Xanthe ease of access. The Roserade kissed up to his pulse point, sucking there before returning to the other's lips. His hips lifted a little to encourage Ferroco to tease him more.

Getting the hint, the latter put a good amount of his attention on the other's sheath and didn't focus much on the kiss. At this rate, he figured Xanthe would be out of his sheath at any moment.

A shudder passed through the rose as his member finally freed itself and he let out a shaky sigh, turning his head to the side again and biting his lip. Ferroco then set to work on teasing the exposed head.

"Ah...!" Xanthe tried to get Ferroco in the same state, working his hand over the other's sheath. It took a bit more time, but he did eventually start to poke out. By this time Xanthe was already breathing harshly, holding in his breath occasionally as the Spaniard stroked him.

Without too much more work, Ferroco had Xanthe entirely exposed, which made it much easier to focus on the underside. The smaller plant bit his lip, lifting his hips up off the ground somewhat. The Spaniard pushed his lips into Xanthe's again as he sped up the rubbing.

The Roserade teared up, writhing underneath the other male. The latter got the idea that he may be overwhelming his partner a bit, but discarded that idea quickly and moved his mouth to Xanthe's throat, leaving kisses there.

The Poison-type breathed out the other's name, tilting his head to give the cactus more access. Ferroco trailed several kisses from Xanthe's jaw line down to his chest, lingering there a bit longer. His hand had slowed down a tad so as to keep him from getting too excited just yet. The younger gave a shuddering sigh, hands resting beside his head on the grass. His back arched somewhat as Ferroco nipped his chest lightly.

By this time, the odd feeling of being half in and half out of his sheath had started to bug Ferroco a bit, but he did his best to ignore it and keep focusing on Xanthe, running one hand over his rear end.

"Mmmhh... Ferroco..." Xanthe gulped, pushing back on the larger Pokémon's shoulders until he was sitting up. He kneeled down close to the Spaniard's length, taking it in hand and releasing it from its covering.

He looked up at Ferroco and lightly licked at the head. The latter gave a light groan in approval, setting both hands on the back of Xanthe's head, covering the semi-white petals. He was tantalizingly licked from base to tip, making the organ throb a little. The Roserade's tongue then swirled around the tip a few times before he stroked at the underside.

"Mmmph," Ferroco moaned lowly, sliding out more and more as this went on. Xanthe took the tip into his mouth and slid down on it an inch or two further, closing one eye as he bobbed his head up and down. His hand pumped the rest of what he couldn't fit into his mouth. He hadn't realized how long his partner was down there until now.

A few more bobs and Ferroco was completely exposed at about 6", which was actually pretty long considering the average Cacturne measured in at about 4-5".

The Roserade sucked a bit on the tip, hollowing out his cheeks. He reached his other hand down to begin stroking himself in the same rhythm, humming around Ferroco's length. The vibrations this caused made the shaft twitch a bit, but the feeling left too soon for him to arch his back.

Xanthe sat up, scooting forward and kissing up the Cacturne's chest before connecting their lips and straddling him completely. Their lengths pressed together and Xanthe wrapped his hand around both, stroking them together. Ferroco returned the kiss eagerly, if not only in an attempt to gain control over it. The pleasure down below made it a bit of a less easy task, but he managed anyway, holding his younger partner's body close.

Xanthe's free hand went to the back of Ferroco's neck, massaging the spot. His hand down below quickened its pace. This only drove the Cacturne further. He put both hands on the other Pokémon's buttocks and set to work, kneading them.

"Ahn...hnn..." The Roserade moaned into Ferroco's mouth, hand slipping from a steady rhythm and moving even faster.

The taller could feel himself dripping pre at this point. Maybe it was time to move on…

Xanthe turned his head, breaking the kiss and moaning. Suddenly his hand was pulled back and he blearily opened his eyes, looking at Ferroco questioningly.

Before continuing, Ferroco felt it only fair to ask: "Do you want to take this any further?"

"Further...?" He blushed as he realized what that meant and nodded, wrapping his arms around Ferroco's neck and hiding his now red cheeks. "Mmhmm..."

"Bien… This might take a little work, though," Ferroco warned. He could already tell Xanthe would be a tight fit, with or without preparation.

"I don't mind, but..." he backed away, looking into a yellow-orange eye.

"You're so big... I don't know if you'll fit..." His whole face grew red as he said this and he shifted his hips a little, drawing a small gasp from himself as his member rubbed against the Spaniard's.

"I'm sure we can figure that out somehow," Ferroco had trouble keeping his tone even as he got a little pleasure from Xanthe's movement.

The masked rose glanced off to the side for a second before mentally shrugging and initiating another kiss, licking at the elder's lips. The latter wasn't too focused on this one because of the issue at hand. This would be a Hell of a lot easier if he had fingers…

Xanthe sighed, backing away from the kiss after he noticed Ferroco wasn't paying much attention to him anymore.

"We just need a replacement for fingers, right?"

"Si, that is a bit of an issue …" He gave his own "hands" a disdainful look.

"Hmmm..." He rocked against the Cacturne for a moment, making sure neither of them lost their erections and letting out a shuddered breath from the action.

"Moves? I don't-..." His breath hitched slightly. " I don't have anything... but maybe you do...?"

"Erm… I know Ingrain…?" Ferroco offered, unsure of anything else that would work.

"That'll do..." he whispered, rubbing their bodies together even more.

Ferroco put what concentration he had left into raising two smooth, prehensile roots from the ground at Xanthe's sides. The Roserade pushed Ferroco onto his back, taking hold of their lengths and stroking them again.

"Ahh..."

"Mmf…" the Dark-type faltered a bit at this, trying to keep his hips still. Xanthe noticed the roots at his sides, moving slowly toward him then stopping suddenly in time with his strokes. He halted his movements, looking down at Ferroco with a snarky grin.

"Sorry... you can't concentrate, can you?"

"No, no puedo," Ferroco admitted. "I haven't tried using Ingrain for this before…"

"Then I'll stop..." he offered, getting on all fours over the Cacturne so that his butt was at easy access for the roots.

"Gracias," the latter breathed, his mind much less clouded now. He put effort into directing one root to its target, prodding Xanthe from behind.

"Nn, wait," he paused, sitting up and taking both the roots into his mouth, making sure to cover them with enough saliva before resuming his position over Ferroco. He could tell this was going to be weird...

Now that the roots were slick enough, it was easier to poke one in and get it to burrow a fair distance inside. Xanthe rested his forehead against the Cacturne's chest, holding his breath initially until the root was all the way in before breathing shallowly.

"Fou..."

Ferroco only answered with a light snicker, pushing the root in and out several times before attempting to use the second one.

"Nnf..." The odd feeling of being stretched even more made him bite his lip. He reached a hand down to stroke himself a little, distracting him from the roots inside him. Ferroco tried a few different techniques; mainly he tried alternating which root was going in as the other came out, making sure Xanthe was always full but still allowing movement.

"Ahhhn..." he let out a long, shuddering breath as one of the roots brushed against his prostate and pushed back, whimpering as it left him completely instead of grinding that spot. He lifted his head slightly, looking into Ferroco's eye.

"D-do that again... sil vous plait, Ferroco..."

Obediently, he pushed the root back in all the way, brushing it against Xanthe's prostate. The younger let out a sultry moan, ducking his head again and laying it against Ferroco's chest as he bucked into the root.

A pattern was soon created. The first root ground against that spot while the other kept pumping in and out.

"Ahnnn... hahh...!" Xanthe could barely control the moans that spilled from him. Just a little more and he might cum...

"You sound like you're about ready," Ferroco commented as casually as if he were talking about the weather, halting the roots from moving anymore. The smaller Pokémon whimpered from the sudden loss and looked up at the elder, crawling up his body once the roots left him completely and connecting their lips for a moment.

"Ferroco..."

Ferroco took hold of Xanthe's hips and positioned him above his member. Xanthe backed away from the other's lips as he felt the tip of the Spaniard's member at his entrance. He straightened himself and placed his hands flat on the Cacturne's abdomen, nodding slowly for the other to continue to lower him.

The Dark-type took great care in slowly lowering his partner onto himself, as it was still a tight fit. He wrapped one root around Xanthe's length and squeezed it to distract from any possible pain.

"Nnngh..." The younger clenched his teeth, trying to keep his body relaxed. The roots helped keep his mind off the sting and he focused on that, barely noticing when Ferroco was all the way in. As an added measure, the root teased around Xanthe's tip while Ferroco finished pushing in the rest of the way, getting a rather nice massage as the muscles enveloping his length tried in vain to push him back out.

The Roserade let out a slow breath, shifting from the root's ministrations and making his larger partner's member brush against his prostate lightly. The Cacturne let his hands run over Xanthe's hips in circles, removing the root.

Once he was completely used to the intrusion, the Roserade decided to take the initiative, lifting his hips an inch or two off of Ferroco's length before descending upon it. He gasped, fingers curling on the larger Pokémon's abdomen and pushing from there to do it again. Ferroco added some weak thrusts of his own to match Xanthe's, but didn't do anything too ambitious just yet, still holding onto the smaller plant's hips.

Slowly but surely, the movements became pleasurable and his mouth hung slightly ajar as he began panting. He shifted every now and then, trying to get Ferroco to strike that spot again. The latter cooperated and eventually found it, making sure not to miss anymore once he'd located it.

"Ah! Ahh!" Xanthe moaned wantonly, trying to stimulate that spot but finding it hard to do at this position. He cracked his eyes open somewhat and looked up at the Cacturne. "Ferroco... I can't... ah! Can we change-nnh-positions?"

"I'm not playing bottom, if that's what you mean," Ferroco answered quickly, slowing down his thrusting a tad.

"Wouldn't dream of it..." he sighed, leaning down to nip at Ferroco's jaw. "It's just that this position is very-nnh!-limiting..."

"How else do you want to do it?" At this point the Cacturne stopped moving entirely.

Xanthe lifted his hips, letting the member slide out of him with a whimper. He completely removed himself from Ferroco and got on all fours, rear raised toward the Cacturne.

"...Like this?"

"Bien, I guess," the latter plant's tone shrugging while he pushed himself up onto his knees, lining up behind the other.

The Roserade bit his lip as the other entered him once more, pushing back in order to speed up the process. Ferroco made sure to locate the Roserade's prostate before starting up again, and even that he did somewhat slowly.

Xanthe whimpered, moaning at the Spaniard hit his prostate with each thrust. The latter made sure to keep a hold on his partner's hips, making the task of jabbing his prostate much simpler. At the same time, he tried to keep a steadily increasing rhythm, though the waves of pleasure washing over him made it a bit difficult.

Xanthe's moans became wanton and his breathing, erratic. He covered his mouth with one hand to stifle the noises, bucking unto Ferroco with every thrust. The Cacturne made an attempt to wrap a root around Xanthe's member again, but couldn't quite get it, as there were too many other things going on at once. Instead he just sped up his thrusting a fair amount, jabbing harder. The distinct sound of flesh slapping against flesh started up at this.

"Nngh... Ahh...! Ferroco..." the Poison-type moaned loudly, feeling like he was about to tip over the edge. He just needed a little more...

"_Nnnf…!_" Ferroco was no different, already sped up to near-maximum speed, and still jabbing that same spot. The convulsions on his length had become more prominent, squeezing it tightly. He was starting to lose a bit of the sense in his thighs as it was replaced with pleasure. At the same time, the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach was getting stronger…

Finally, the constant jabs to his prostate became too much for Xanthe to handle. He screamed his partner's name out loud as he came, unwittingly squeezing Ferroco's length even tighter. This gave the latter plant the extra push that he needed. The weird sensation in his stomach was sent shooting out from his tip in the form of seed as the Cacturne kept a death grip on Xanthe's hips, moaning all the while.

Xanthe took a minute to catch his breath, whimpering slightly as Ferroco pulled out of him. The latter took a seat as well, panting heavily. He dared not try and move his hips for a while after that, still shaking a little.

The Roserade lay on the ground flat, head resting on his folded arms as he tried to steady his breathing.

"So… How was it for you?" Ferroco asked between heaving breaths.

He turned his head to the other side, smiling tiredly at the Cacturne. "Do you really have to ask?"

"How else would I know?" he countered.

The Roserade rolled his eyes. _'As if my moans and the way I was moving weren't enough to tell by...'_ he droned mentally. He sat up, having a little trouble as his body hadn't completely recovered from his orgasm, and scooted over to Ferroco, nuzzling his neck.

"It was amazing..."

"Es bueno saber," Ferroco gave a somewhat tired sigh, stroking the petals atop the other's head. Xanthe smirked, albeit tiredly, and pushed Ferroco onto the ground by his shoulders, lying down beside him with an arm and his head on the Cacturne's chest.

"And now we sleep~" he giggled.

"Are you sure we shouldn't get back to our trainers soon?" Ferroco raised an eyebrow. The sky was starting to get just faintly lighter…

"Just for a little while...?" the rose's tone sounded almost sad.

"… Bien. Pero if we get in trouble, it's _your_ fault," Ferroco warned. Why'd Xanthe have to be so damn cute?

"Well..." He nuzzled into the Cacturne's neck. "Another reason is... I don't think I can stand at the moment," he admitted, hiding his expression from the Spaniard. The latter found it profoundly difficult to keep from laughing, and so didn't respond verbally. Instead, he put one arm around the other's back and left it there.

Xanthe relaxed even more, face painted red as the other's arm draped over him. He almost dozed off a few times as an hour or two passed. But their time was running out and they had to go back inside to their respective trainers. He sat up halfway and waited for Ferroco to stand before the Cacturne helped him up. His face regained its blush as he had a little trouble staying upright.

"Umm... I'm going to need help getting back to my room..."

Ferroco probably would've chuckled if he wasn't so dead tired at the moment. "I'll help you, then."

The Roserade smiled softly, mumbling a 'thank you' as the elder wrapped his arm around the smaller plant's waist.

"Do you need me to carry you?" the latter offered. Xanthe blushed, thinking Ferroco was reading his mind or something.

"I-I'm not too heavy?"

"You're kidding, right?" Ferroco smirked, effortlessly hoisting Xanthe up to carry him bridal style.

"Nn...!" The Roserade blinked, wrapping his arms around Ferroco's neck so as not to fall.

It was a short trip back into the base, and navigating back to the room Xanthe's trainer was staying in was no different. Xanthe kept his arms wrapped around Ferroco's neck, kissing him sweetly one last time.

"Bonne nuit, mon amour."

"Buenos noches, mi amor," Ferroco returned the kiss just before setting Xanthe down on his feet. The younger giggled slightly before going into the room and closing the door quietly. He kept a hand on the wall to support himself until he got to the same spot he was sleeping in before, collapsing and drifting off to sleep almost immediately.

Ferroco was easily able to get back into his DuskBall without waking anyone, and settled down for a good night's rest, looking forward to a better tomorrow…


End file.
